Tamayo, Hannah Eunice E.

MMA31

Film Review: Joker (2019)

Joker (2019) is a film directed by Todd Philips, starring Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur fleck or joker.
This film is based on DC Comics characters and is an American psychological thriller.
The film follows Arthur Fleck who is a struggling failed clown and stand up comedian who
supports his mother Penny. He is also suffering from a disorder that makes him laugh
uncontrollably that causes the city to ridicule and alienate him. His medications were solely
depend on social services. The film depicts the cruelty of society especially to those who are
mentally ill like Arthur Fleck. Due to different hardships that he faced and shocking revelations
he became delusional and murderer in the latter part of the film.

One of the most plausible in the film is it’s colour grading, and it was done by Dustin Wasworth.
Joker is a dark and depressing story and gloomy colors are perfect for it’s mood. It adds a lot to
the feels of the film, it gave color and emphasis to Arthur’s struggles in his own head and the
society who alienates him. The use of intense shades of colors gave power to most of the scenes
and helped a lot in depicting how Arthur loses his grip with reality, which is difficult to portray
with film.
Aside from the color grading and outstanding cinematography, the story itself is commendable.
There aren’t any clear background story before about Joker, mainly because he is an antagonist.
The fact that they have made an antagonist as a main character makes it astonishing but
crafting a whole background (in how he became Joker) is different story. I love how the plot was
written intricately and adds a touch of reality making it more relatable to the audience.

Although the story is quite complex, they did a commendable job by incorporating colors,
settings, musical scoring,props and costumes, intense actions and making them come together
as one. Overall, the film, Joker has an outstanding cinematography and powerful plot making it
worthy of your time.